Homoeopathy to the rescue
November 2008
By Dr Issac Mathai
Dr Issac Mathai, the well-known holistic physician, suggests homoeopathic remedies for your health problems
I am a 50-year-old man. I am not too overweight, and am fairly active and agile. Still, my knees pain quite a bit. I cannot sit on the floor as before. What can I do to relieve the pain?
Knee pain may be the result of an injury, such as a ruptured ligament or torn cartilage or certain medical conditions like arthritis, gout and other infections.
Pain in knees can occur when one has not exercised for a long period of time. Knee osteoarthritis, a form of arthritis where degeneration of cartilage occurs is a common cause of knee pain and the risk increases with age. Exercise is vital to maintain strength and flexibility of muscles supporting the knee.
Homoeopathic medicines aim at reducing pain, inflammation, and stiffness. Arnica is the first remedy prescribed in pain after injuries. The others are Rhus tox, and Ruta – three pills every four hours for a couple of days to help in healing of the injury. If knee pain is the result of being overweight, a wonderful medicine Phytolacca is helpful. Apis is for swollen knees accompanied with pain.
My baby was diagnosed with hydrocephalus and a child specialist did a shunting when she was just four months old. She is now eight months old and even now, is not progressing normally. Should I try ayurvedic, homoeopathy or any other alternative treatment?
The success of shunts in treatment of hydrocephalus varies from person to person. Early diagnosis and treatment improve the chances of a good recovery.
Some of the medicines given for this condition are Hellaborus. This medicine is suitable for symptoms that include unconsciousness, suppressed urine, eyes that do not react to light and screaming spells during sleep. Digitalis is given when there is scanty albuminous urine, slow pulse and cold sweat. Apocyanum is another useful remedy in the stage of exudation where the head is large, there is bulging of frontal bones, open fontanelles and squinting of eyes. In conditions where the head is large with sweat, and there is sudden startling in sleep, redness of face, cold hands and feet the remedy is Silicea. Large head with thin, scrawny neck where the child does not want to play and tendency to glandular enlargements are special indications of the remedy, Baryta carb.
I am 22 years old. I bleed a lot and fainted once during my menstruation. Is there any medication that can help me?
Your condition refers to excessive flow and duration of the bleeding in your menstrual cycle. Hormonal imbalance is the most common cause for excessive bleeding. Other causes may be abnormal blood clotting, disorders of the endometrial lining of the uterus. Depending on the cause, it may be associated with abnormally painful periods.
Prolonged blood loss causes anaemia due to loss of the body’s iron reserves. Investigative procedures like pelvic and rectal examination, pelvic ultrasound scan, endometrial biopsy, hysteroscopy are useful to find the cause of excessive bleeding. Fibroids and polyps can be removed surgically if necessary.
Make sure you eat a nutritious high-fibre, low-fat diet. Some of the homoeopathic medicines include Sabina where there is profusion of bright red or dark coagulated blood, accompanied with pain. China is given if there is debility from copious or long-continued menstrual discharge. Secale cor is a useful remedy when the bleeding arises from uterus with poor tone, with pale face and cold limbs. Pulsatilla is prescribed if there is discharge of black-coloured blood mixed with clots at intervals. These medicines have to be taken in the dosage of three pills every two hours or four hours for three to five days. Ferrum Phos 6X is an iron supplement and can be taken three for four times a day for a month in the dosage of four pills at a time. Consult a homoeopathic physician for constitutional medicine if the above measures do not help.